All posts tagged ‘Aayla Secura’

Mega Con is my favorite convention (and the only one I can seem to make every year). One of my favorite parts about it, is seeing all the different costumes the cosplayers come up with. From the screen accurate to the silly to the just for fun, cosplayers bring their game face and strut their stuff in Orlando, Florida.

I only had so much space to showcase some of my favorites in my Mega Con post, so I’d like to take a moment to show you some of my favorite costumes from this year.

Just in case you haven’t noticed, I’m a Star Wars fan. Besides owning two approved 501st and two Rebel Legion costumes (clones count for both legions), I also enjoy reading up on the dark and light sides of the force. There are ample supplies of fictional novels that happen in the Star Wars universe, but there are also some great books for collectors, cooks and force enthusiasts.

First up on the list is my husband’s favorite (and this year’s birthday present), the The Jedi Path: A Manual for Students of the Force. I was inspired to seek out this particular title after he participated in the grand opening of Star Wars miniland at Legoland Florida. While wearing his Jedi knight costume, a couple of younglings were asking some very interesting questions. One of the younglings wanted to know where and how much they could get a holocron for, while another was curious why the Jedi had different sized lightsaber hilts.

Star Wars Celebration VI, the biggest Star Wars party in the galaxy, will be in Orlando, Florida this week and I’ve been planning and scheming for it since it was announced last year. The 501st Legion has been hard at work getting everything ready for this event and we can’t wait to show you all what we’ve done. To add to the fun, I have a special surprise for those attending…

Anyone who can find me and says “GeekMom rocks!” will receive a special GeekMom emblem patch! The patches were made specifically for Celebration VI, so you won’t find them anywhere else right now.

I’m really excited about everything happening at Celebration VI. From panels to parties, to red carpet premieres, you never know where I’ll show up next. One thing’s for sure, I’ll be there all four days and geeking out at all the Star Wars celebrities, collectibles and costumes. Did I mention that ThinkGeek has a booth this year? I’ve only ever seen them online, so you know I’ll be hitting them up like a Twi’lek at a dance off!

The patches are limited to 100 so if you want one, you better keep an eye out for me. Bonus points if you can find me in one of my 501st Legion or Rebel Legion costumes. To make it a little easier for you, I’ll be tweeting some hints on where you can find me. Make sure to follow me on Twitter (@Dak903) to stay updated.

So, if you see me and you want a patch, make sure you come up and say hi!

Growing up, my life revolved around Barbie, Strawberry Shortcake, and My Little Pony. As I’ve gotten older, my love of the toys never left me, but my collecting of them has. When I learned that the My Little Pony convention was going to be in Orlando this year, I jumped at the opportunity to go. At the same time, I also learned that the 501st Legion was going to be in attendance. That sealed the deal. There was no way I was going to miss trooping in a room full of ponies!

MLP Fair Logo / Image: MLP Convention

The convention has been in full swing since 2003 and it draws quite the crowd. The convention organizers spend hours planing and organizing this event for the My Little Pony fans of all ages. Fans and collectors come together for a 2 day event, dedicated to all things My Little Pony. The merchandise was interesting to say the least. All of the tables sold ponies from various generations and some sold artwork and other miscellaneous items.

Custom Ponies by / Image: Dakster Sullivan

The custom ponies were amazing and many (for good reason) were in the price range of $200 or more. One thing I didn’t expect, was to hear that the exclusive merchandise sold out within a few hours of the doors opening.

This year at Star Wars Weekends, the 501st and Rebel Legion raised the bar.

Not only did we have our usually turnout of amazing costumes, but we also had some first time costumes. As one member put it, “We showed Disney that we can do more than robes and armor.” As a proud member of both the 501st and Rebel Legion, I would like to show them off. I know these members worked really hard on their costumes and making it to Star Wars Weekends was a huge accomplishment for them.

Dakster / Image: Inside the Magic

This year I marched as Aayla Secura and it was an amazing journey from start to finish. The days I marched in my Jedi are by far my favorite of any this year. I’d been toying with the idea of building a female costume to give me a break from my clone for a while now. What attracted me to her the most was her look and attitude. She also appeared to be a pretty easy build (FYI, I was wrong…). The one thing I didn’t expect was all the attention I received.

It wasn’t until after we were at Star Wars Weekends that I found out not only was my costume a first for the event, but it was also the first time any member had attempted a body paint job like mine for the march. This costume took three months to go from idea to approval, and then several other people to help make it happen each time I marched. I felt like I had my own little pit crew following me around. It was a lot of work, but in the end I am really proud to say I am the first Aayla Secura to march in Star Wars Weekends.

Dakster Sullivan will be back in armor this weekend trooping the Austim Walk with the Florida Garrison. Her husband and son will be sitting this one out and enjoying the activites happening around the walk. After the troop, Dakster will be hard at work making some adjustments to her Aayla Secura headpiece. With some creativity and luck, she hopes to figure out a way to keep the headpiece from giving her severe migraines while wearing it.

Judy Berna was starting to feel like four kids on summer break wasn’t nearly chaotic enough so for the next two weeks her niece and nephew from California will be hanging out at her house. The kids are having a grand time, making cousin memories. When they aren’t jumping on the trampoline, riding the pump track in the backyard or swimming at the Rec Center, they can all be found down at the creek, catching fish for dinner, with their bare hands.

Marziah is helping her girl build a Lego robot this weekend. And three clothing projects. And a recycled materials project. And, and, and… Can you tell it’s county fair season?

Corrina has been busy trying to create a set “work time” while the kids are home for the summer. She did manage to blog about “What is Normal” for a LGBT discussion on the Beyond the Veil author’s blog and answered some great interview questions for Women Who Write About Comics. She is trying to resist the youngest son’s desire for a smartphone of his own. Those data plans are killer.

Patricia is attempting a 30-day no-automatic-clothes-dryer challenge. If you count that she was on vacation for the first week, she’s now at 2 weeks — 14 days — of only hanging clothes outside to dry. Here in Florida in the summer, one could argue that clothing dries faster outside than in a dryer, electricity-free! Her community was on the extreme fringes of Tropical Storm Debby with just a couple inches of rain and a couple windy days. All is well here.

Sophie went on a family trip to a family theme park on Tuesday, she’ll be writing all about it next week. On Wednesday the Olympic Torch passed through her home city on it’s relay across the UK. She and her family went out to cheer on the runner as he carried it by; it was a very special moment to see something so unique and important.

Laura is going to Asheville, NC to spend some time with her son who is there for an engineering co-op. Before she leaves she’s trying to get work done ahead. That’s like bailing a leaky boat, because more work just flows in to fill the newly empty space.

Chaos Mandy is hoping to stay cool this weekend. The weather is due to be very hot in her part of NC so she is hoping to spend some time in a cool movie theater seeing Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.

Ariane has been wearing (and loving!) her new Tesla t-shirt, designed by GeekMom Brigid herself. She has received many great comments by strangers on the street, but surprisingly none from the volunteers working the train festival she attended last weekend. What’s up with that?

This past March I decided to embark on my first solo costuming project, Aayla Secura. I wanted it to be a total surprise to my squad, so I referred to it only as Project X on Facebook. It was quite the journey and a quick one at that. My animated clone trooper took five months and four people to help get it fitting me right. Since I wanted to march in Star Wars weekends, this costume had to be completed in less than three months and this time, it was all up to me, myself and my husband to make it come to life. It was a tight squeeze, but we were able to make our goal.

The day to reveal my costume at Star Wars Weekends arrived. We planned on putting the paint on me at home and then suiting me up the rest of the way at Disney. One problem…our airbrush system stopped working! After texting back and forth with our friend Zach, he finally told us to bring everything with us to the park and he would help us out there. As soon as we arrived I knew I was in good hands. Several of my friends were already aware of the issues and were ready and waiting to help me out. After fifteen minutes, Zach had us up and working.

Zach and Dakster / Image: Donna Sanders

Known by his friends as the Master Painter of the FLG, Zach took charge of my paint job and forty-five minutes later, I was all blue. Once my body paint was complete, a fellow Rebel Legion member, Otter, helped me get into one of the air-conditioned buses that Disney gave us to stay cool (thank you Disney!) to put on the rest of my costume.

The one major downside to this costume is the headpiece. It’s held on by pressure from the head wrap and after about thirty minutes, I was hating life. The positive attention I received from everyone really helped keep me in a good mood. I still felt the pain, but it was easier to handle with so many of my friends around me.